The Treasonous Ways of Men Are On My Mind

Okay, so this is totally first draft stuff, but I thought today would be a good day (sunny and bright) to share an excerpt from my current WIP, The Treasonous. This is the third book in the Chronicles of the Twelve Realms, and it’s coming together kind of slowly, but I’m loving the characters.

Map of the Twelve Realms

If you will remember, Florian is one of the twelve guardsmen knights of High Prince Theiandar. He is from the realm of Wyeth. In The Beauty Thief we found out that he was raised south of Wyeth Castle. His nobleman father and his mother were killed when Florian and his sister were both young. They were told that raiders from Crescent Cave had murdered their parents, and they were sent to live with their uncle whose manor was near the castle. In this third novel we get to know Florian and his history a little bit more. 🙂

Draft Uno Excerpt:

Florian knew his urgency was apparent to anyone looking on, and it grew with each passing step. Now he slammed the heavy door closed and stood in the middle of his uncle’s room.

The candles glowed, flickering waves of eerie light and shadows across the walls with the swift displacement of air from his hasty entrance. The shimmer of them danced a sinister tempo in the reflection of Jeron’s eyes.

“What manner of thoughtless behavior is this, Nephew?” Jeron didn’t move from his seat by the fire, a goblet of something raised part way to his lips.

“I don’t know, Uncle. You tell me.”

Well, I find this little scene snippet thrilling in its allusion. I am going to have to get out of giddy, happy writer feelings and slide into angry, confused character vs confident, authoritarian character mode as we are preparing for a bit of an argument. 😀

Reblogged this on heroicallybadwriter and commented:
Rachael Ritchley’s Third Volume of the ‘Twelve Realms is under way. These are truly entertaining and captivating books which can be read by ‘All Ages’.
Not only does Rachael write them, but creates the covers, does cool YouTube promotions and markets them.
Visit her blog not just for details on the books but also on ‘how it can be done’

Whoo-ooo! So pleased that Volume Three is up and running. Nice to read that Florian is as intense and on edge as he was in the previous books, sometimes characters can undergo complete personality changes between books. Changing the central character from volume to volume is a good idea too, always keeps things fresh.
Al the best for the journey
Roger

Thanks so much, Roger. 😀 Ever since his character got a nickname in The Beauty Thief I’ve had him floating around in my mind. I like focusing on some of the same characters but changing up the main one while sticking to the same world. It is fun for me, so I’m glad it keeps it fresh from a reader perspective, too. I imagine that as different people enjoy different characters they will also have different favorite books in the series as well. ❤

You have certainly won me over! I’ll now have to get these. 🙂 Just in this one look I can see so much. Your visuals are amazing, and they are right in line with the types of reads I love. Thank you for being!

Reblogged this on Planet Simon and commented:
Have a look at this post from Rachel Ritchey on her third book in the twelve realms series. She’s a great writer and definitely needs more exposure. Please read and support Rachael.

😀 Thanks, Steven. I’m pretty good with dialogue and tend to get wrapped up in the talking without giving the scenery a good voice. I’m really trying to work on succinct, evocative scene description. I want to be able to feel the place without having to describe it in twenty thousand word paragraphs. haha I’m so happy to hear your feedback!

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Rachael Ritchey is the author of young adult fiction. Her clean but real and true-to-self writing reflects qualities of courage and hope with daring adventure and sweet romance that almost anyone can enjoy. Rachael lives in Spokane, WA with her husband, kids, and their dog named Hashtag.